Using Windows Media Player

For most users, the media player of choice is the one that comes free with Microsoft Windows. Windows Media Player (WMP) is a great little program you can use for many purposesplaying CDs and DVDS, ripping and burning CDs, listening to Internet radio broadcasts, and watching video webcasts. It works similarly to most other media players, so if you know how to use WMP, you should be able to figure out any other media player program.

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The latest and greatest version of WMP is Windows Media Player 10, available for free download from the Windows Media website (www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/). WMP 10 is a lot easier to use than previous versions and offers built-in MP3 playback and recording, which makes it worth upgrading to.

Whether you're playing a CD, DVD, or digital audio file, you use the controls located at the bottom of the WMP window, shown in Figure 30.1. These are the normal transport buttons you find on a cassette deck or VCR, including Play/Pause, Stop, Rewind, and Fast Forward. WMP also includes Next and Previous track buttons, along with a volume control and Mute button.

Figure 30.1. Playing CDs and other audio files with the Windows Media Player.

The biggest part of the WMP window is the video/visualization window. When you're watching a DVD, this is where the movie appears. When you're listening to CDs or digital music, you can choose to have this area display information about the current album or artist (the Info Center view) or what Microsoft calls "visualizations." (Think of a visualization as a kind of "live" wallpaper that moves along with your music.) You can choose which visualizations are displayed by pulling down the View menu, selecting Visualizations, and then making a choice. If you would rather see the album and artist info, select View, Info Center View.

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By default, WMP is launched in its Full mode. If you would rather display the player without all the extraneous controls, you can switch to the more compact Skin mode by clicking the Switch to Skin Mode button at the lower-right of the WMP window, or by pulling down the View menu and selecting Skin Mode.

To the right of the video/visualization window is the Playlist area. Individual tracks of the CD or DVD are listed here. This area also displays the songs in any playlists that you create from the digital music files stored on your hard drive. (You'll learn more about playlists and digital music files in Chapter 32, "Downloading and Playing Digital Music.")

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To display Info Center information, your computer must be connected to the Internet. WMP automatically goes out to the Internet to retrieve information about any commercial CD or DVD you're playing.

The buttons or tabs along the top of the window let you switch functions of the player. Click a button and the entire player interface changes to reflect the selected featureNow Playing, Library, Rip, Burn, Sync, and Guide. The subsidiary button lets you switch to additional functions, including Music, Radio, and Movies & TV.

Finally, you're probably wondering where the pull-down menus are. WMP does a good job of hiding its menu system; the main menu button is the little down-arrow at the top right of the window, next to the minimize window button. Click the down arrow to see all the pull-down menusFile, View, Play, Tools, and Help.

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If the sound is too loud (or not loud enough), you can change the volume by dragging the Volume sliderto the right of the transport controlsto the right (louder) or left (softer). If you need to mute the sound quickly, click the Mute button to the left of the Volume slider. Click the Mute button again to unmute the sound.